April 23
AUSTRALIA:
JOHN HOWARD "RESPECTS" DEATH PENALTY
To be an unfortunate person in a country, which uses the death penalty for
certain crimes, is to assume more "respect" from the Australian Prime
Minister John Howard, than our founding fathers might have ever imagined.
Everyone has noticed reports in the Australian media lately, concerning
the possible fate of Saddam Hussein. According to the reports, Mr Howard
will not be opposing the death sentence for Saddam. Mr Howard said the
same thing when the Bali bombers were sentenced to death.
Recently, ACADP received a letter from Australian Prime Minister, John
Howard.
In the letter, Mr Howard stated that Australia is a signatory to the
Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, which requires State Parties to abolish and oppose the
death penalty for every case and under any circumstance. Alas, Mr Howard
also stated that he "respects" the rights of sovereign states to pass
judgements relating to crimes committed within their jurisdictions - that
includes the death penalty.
Lets see here ... this is an interesting and intriguing judgement !!!
Most of us proud citizens of this country Australia, which long ago
stopped slaughtering criminals in the name of justice, the word "respect"
when referring to death penalty laws is as bizarre as it is an insult to
every decent human being on this planet that values the sanctity of human
life.
Respectable leaders of civilised nations that have abolished this vicious
act of state-sponsored violence, have shown "zero respect" to the few
sovereign states that still use this barbaric and animalistic punishment.
The European Union (25-nation council) has expressed a very clear stance
on its opposition to capital punishment in all cases. Something smells
fishy when only the Australian Prime Minister voices otherwise.
But what intrigued ACADP was the use of the word "respect."
In ordinary circumstances it means "admiration and honour," applied to
something that is positive. You are eligible for respect when you
contribute something good to society. Such as; when you show compassion to
others less fortunate than yourself. People who volunteer caring for
others in various ways deserve our respect. Even criminals may be eligible
for respect if they better themselves while in prison.
At any rate, the use of the word "respect" for something as final as the
death penalty, prompted ACADP to think about other crimes, besides murder,
that are punishable by death in those sovereign states that deserve to be
"respected," according to Prime Minister Howard.
For example; How does a person with a heart "respect" the Iranian
government for the recent public hanging of Ateqeh Rajabi, a 16-year-old
girl, for her crime of "act incompatible with chastity" (also known as
pre-marital sex) ???
If you are a female and happen to commit the crime of adultery, you may be
stoned-to-death. Homosexuality is another crime punishable by death. So
are some 100 non-violent crimes, such as; apostasy, blasphemy,
prostitution, tax fraud, stealing petrol, drinking alcohol, sorcery,
robbing graves, and the list goes on.
If you are an Australian citizen and happen to end up on the wrong side of
the law in a sovereign state, dont rely on your Prime Minister to voice
his opposition if your human rights are violated, or if you are unlucky
enough to be sentenced to death for a handful of drugs. You will need to
remember that Mr Howard "respects" the rights of sovereign states to pass
judgements relating to crimes committed within their jurisdictions - that
includes the death penalty.
We assume Mr Howard's "respect" also extends to the various methods used
by sovereign states to exterminate human beings; firing squad, beheading,
hanging, stoning-to-death, lethal injection, electrocution and lethal gas
just to name a few. Then there are the non-publicised methods, secret,
unofficial and unreported executions, such as; slowly being
tortured-to-death, flogged-to-death and mysterious deaths-in-custody.
Anyway, once you have been legally executed (hopefully not in public) to
the complete satisfaction of that sovereign state, you wont be executed
again - there will always be many other human beings (including Australian
citizens) that will become eligible for execution under Mr Howards policy
of serial "respect."
Then there is a thing called friendly "respect," just as there is friendly
detention. The Australian Prime Minister guarantees every sovereign state,
which legally executes its citizens, with this friendly respect. All you
(or a member of your family) has to do is get arrested in a sovereign
state, receive a less than fair trial and a death sentence. If you do
this, and it happens to come to the attention of Prime Minister Howard,
that sovereign state will become eligible for respect from our Prime
Minister. This is referred to as "friendly respect."
But finally, it is the citizens of Australia themselves who will
ultimately be affected the most by all this honourable "respect." Mr
Howard's 2-faced approach to the death penalty will be noticed
internationally. While he is seen half-hearted to support campaigns to
save Australians from execution, he "respects" the death penalty for
non-Australians.
Currently, 2 young Australian males are on death row in Singapore and
Vietnam, while authorities make plans to execute them on short notice for
alleged drug-trafficking. Both have appealed and lost.
It's a shame that those who signed the Second Optional Protocol to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which requires State
Parties to abolish and oppose the use of the death penalty for every case
and under any circumstance, didn't know about respect for the death
penalty. Had they realised that Australia would have a future Prime
Minister that would "respect" the use of the death penalty, they would
surely have devoted their hearts and minds to "life, liberty and the
pursuit for respect."
No other Prime Minister in the history of Australia has so powerfully
expressed his sincere and deepest "respect" for the laws of sovereign
states that include the legalised killing of human beings.
It makes the word "respect" seem so ... "disrespectful."
(source: Australian Coalition Against the Death Penalty)
VIETNAM:
Australian given death penalty
An Australian man of Vietnamese origin has been sentenced to death in
Vietnam for drug trafficking, state media reported today.
Nguyen Van Chinh, 45, was handed the death penalty by the Ho Chi Minh City
People's Court yesterday, the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper said.
2 Vietnamese women of the same gang were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Another defendant was jailed for 20 years.
The 4 were arrested in late 2002 while buying 1 kilogram of heroin in Ho
Chi Minh City to traffick to Australia, the paper said.
Last month, the Supreme Court of Ho Chi Minh City rejected an appeal from
another Australian man of Vietnamese origin who was sentenced to death
last year.
Vietnam has some of the toughest drug laws in the world. Anyone found in
possession of 300 grams or more of heroin, or 10 kilograms or more of
opium, could face the death penalty.
However, foreigners sentenced to death are rarely executed.
In April 2000, a Canadian of Vietnamese origin, Nguyen Thi Hiep, became
the 1st and only Westerner since 1975 to be executed for drug trafficking
and her case prompted a frosting of diplomatic relations between the 2
countries.
In July 2003, Le My Linh, an Australian woman condemned to death by a
Vietnamese court, also on drug trafficking charges, had her sentence
commuted to life imprisonment.
A court had rejected her appeal but President Tran Duc Luong accepted her
clemency plea following intense diplomatic pressure from Canberra.
At least 115 people were sentenced to death last year in the communist
nation and 82 executed by firing squad, according to figures compiled from
state media and court officials.
(source: The Weekend Australian)
